Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

EXCERPTS FROM FCC REPORT 129 whether wire lines were a practicable substitute. Obviously, with the severe shortage of frequencies, it would not be in the public interest to assign a portion of the spectrum to a service which could utilize wire lines instead. The Commission's determination was not limited to technical considerations but also took into account economic and social factors and considerations of national policy. For example, while fixed point-to-point service between countries could be carried on by cable as well as by radio, the great disparity in costs between the two types of service and considerations of national policy clearly required the assignment at least at this time of frequencies for such fixed point-to-point service. "As a second principle, the Commission determined that not all radio services should be evaluated alike. Radio services which are necessary for safety of life and property obviously deserved more consideration than those services which are more in the nature of conveniences or luxuries. "Thirdly, the Commission was concerned with the total number of people who would probably receive benefits from the particular service. Where other factors were equal, the Commission attempted to meet the requests of those services which proposed to render benefits to large groups of the population rather than of those services which aid relatively small groups. "Fourth, and this applied particularly to proposed new services, the Commission undertook to determine whether such newer services met a substantial public need and what the likelihood was, if frequencies were granted, that the service could be established on a practical working basis. With the shortage of frequencies available, the Commission did not believe that it would be in the public interest to assign frequencies to a new service unless it could be shown that there would be public acceptability and use of the service. "The fifth principle related principally to consideration of the proper place in the spectrum for the service in question. There was much evidence introduced in the record — some of it available for the first time — concerning the radio wave propagation characteristics of the various portions of the spectrum. This evidence showed that operation on frequencies within certain regions of the radio spectrum was more suitable for some types of services than others. Certain frequencies could be more effectively used by those services where long range communication was necessary. Other frequencies were better suited for short range communication. In the case of some frequencies, the principal source of interference to a station on these frequencies would be from stations located nearby, while in the case of other frequencies the principal source of interference would be caused by distant stations. All of these factors had to be evaluated so that the service could be assigned to that portion of the spectrum where it could render its best service. "The sixth principle also pertained to assignment of each service to the proper place in the spectrum. In determining the competing requests of two or more services for the same portion of the spectrum, when one or more of the services was already operating in that portion of the spectrum, the Commission gave careful consideration to the number of transmitters and receivers already in use, the investment of the industry and the public in equipment, and the cost and feasibility of converting the equipment for operation on different frequencies, as well as to the time required for an orderly change to the new frequencies. "The limited available spectrum space makes it mandatory that many services